and laity is a daunting challenge.
Among current issues affecting the Church are: women in the ministry;
homosexuality and gay marriage; the elements of the Holy Supper; bringing
back young people and others who are disaffected; the decline of the Church in
North America and growth internationally; and how to use technology most
effectively.
Each of these issues has passionate and righteous voices on all sides,
which makes leadership all the more challenging. What the process asks of all
of us is looking to the Lord and focusing on doctrine, with a commitment to
openness, freedom and charity.
New Church Life has a role to play. With anything we publish that may be
considered controversial, we don’t consider that the end of a conversation but
the beginning. We always hope for constructive, positive dialogue, rooted in
doctrine and charity. We will not shy away from controversy, but won’t focus
on an issue for the sake of controversy. We need to hear more from our clergy,
helping us to focus on relevant teachings, but from concerned and thinking lay
men and women as well. All voices are welcome as we search together for what
the Lord is teaching us.
In the September-October 2013 issue we published a lengthy paper by the
Rev. N. Bruce Rogers on Gender and the Priesthood of the New Church in the
21st Century. This is a hot-button issue in the Church, with strong opinions on
both sides, and pressure for change. This was a good example of a minister’s
personal, in-depth study, presented not as the last word on the subject – as
we saw it – but opening a forum for an exchange of doctrinally-based views.
Response begins in this issue, and will continue. Such a process should be
healthy for the Church, as long as it is framed in looking to the Lord and in
personal kindness.
Also in this issue is a letter of concern about the growing pressure for
homosexual marriage; an article about what young people in the Church are
saying – and seeking; and a minister’s thoughts on the opportunities present in
change. We welcome constructive, doctrinal and charitable contributions on
any of these subjects – and others – to help people make informed judgments
and hopefully come to consensus that strengthens the Church.
Helping to frame our focus was a pre-Christmas sermon in the Bryn
Athyn Cathedral by the Rev. Jeremy F. Simons on Balaam and the Angel of
the Lord. Balak, King of Moab, wanted the prophet Balaam to curse Israel for
him, but Balaam said he could only say what the Lord told him to say. This is
a guide for all of us – not to look to ourselves for the answers to life’s questions
but to the Lord.
Balaam, the sermon points out, “is an extreme example of a tendency
that is common to all of us, and which has bedeviled the Church from the
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